The Arabic Language

Further reading
The classic work on the period of the 
Nahḍa
and the new ideas about the Arab 
nation that were developed in this period is Hourani (1970); on the creation of 
a new linguistic standard in this period see Glaß (2011). Information about the 
linguistic question in the Ottoman Empire is in Prätor (1993: 67f., 164–72, 217f.). 
For the development of modern Arabic lexicography and its historical roots, see 
Gätje (1985); in his history of Arabic lexicography, Haywood (1965) also deals with 
the activities of aš-Šidyāq and al-Bustānī; see also Sawaie (1987, 1990).
The role of the academies is discussed by Hamzaoui (1965, 1975) and Khafaifi 
(1985); for a survey of the history and activities of the Arab language academies, 
see Sawaie (2007); Ali (1987) discusses the various methods of word formation 
and contains (pp. 146–8) a list of approved patterns of lexical creation. A large 
amount of material on the methods and activities of the academies may be found 
in the journals which they publish regularly, 
Majalla Majmaʿ al-Luġa al-ʿArabiyya 
bi-Dimašq
(Damascus, since 1921), 
Majalla Majmaʿ al-Luġa al-ʿArabiyya
(Cairo, since 
1935), 
Majalla al-Majmaʿ al-ʿIlmī al-ʿIrāqī
(Baghdad, since 1950).
On the development of Arabic vocabulary, see the studies of Monteil (1960) and 
Stetkevych (1970); a comparison with the translations from Greek in the Classical 
period is in Bielawski (1956). The examples of the emerging political terminology 
in the nineteenth century in this chapter have been taken from Rebhan (1986), 
Ayalon (1987) and Lewis (1988). The examples of football terminology are derived 
from ʿAbd al-Jawād (1977); for linguistic terminology in Modern Arabic, see Darir 
(1993) and Shraybom-Shivtiel (1993), as well as the dictionaries of linguistic 

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The Emergence of Modern Standard Arabic 
239
terms by Mseddi (1984) and R. Baalbaki (1990). Regional differences in the lexicon 
of Modern Standard Arabic are dealt with by Ibrahim (2008, 2009).
For the linguistic tendencies in the language of the media, Ashtiany’s (1993) 
course of Media Arabic contains many interesting examples. A survey of Media 
Arabic is by Effat and Versteegh (2008). The examples of French influence on 
Modern Standard Arabic in North Africa in this chapter were taken from Kropfitsch 
(1977, 1980) and Chaabani (1984).
Proposals for the simplification of grammar and/or language are discussed by 
Diem (1974: 129–36) and in Šawqī Ḍayf’s introduction to his edition of Ibn Maḍāʾ 
(1982). The classic article on language choice in the teaching of Arabic as a second 
language is Ferguson (1962). A collection of articles on the problem of setting 
up a curriculum in Western departments of Arabic was edited by Agiùs (1990). 
Mahmoud (1982) published a report on the development of an essential vocabu
-
lary, selected by Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian linguists. Specifically on the 
subject of the language of 
Iftaḥ yā Simsim
, see Abu Absi (1990). 
For the penetration of Facebook and Twitter in the Arab world, see the reports 
issued by the Dubai School of Government in 2011 and 2012; for the general 
impact of the social media in the Arab world see also Ghannam (2011). On the 
language policy of al-Jazeera see Suleiman and Lucas (2012). The role of language 
as identity marker and the link between language and nationalism are discussed 
by Suleiman (2003).
On the possibility of composing transfer grammars of Arabic, see Kouloughli 
(1979). Ryding (1990) may be cited as a practical attempt at a mixed grammar; 
her solutions include the introduction of frequent lexical items from the collo
-
quial (
rāḥ
, 
jāb
, 
lāzim
), the elimination of case and mood inflection, and the use 
of function words from colloquial speech (
lissā
, 
šū
, 
miš
, and so on); cf. also Alosh 
(1994). Another approach is that of Woidich and Heinen-Nasr (1995), who aim 
at an integration of the two language varieties by starting with the colloquial 
language (Egyptian Arabic), but introducing from the beginning lexical items 
from the standard language, and gradually mixing the two varieties, so that at the 
end of the first year the student has spoken skills in colloquial Arabic and reading 
skills in Standard Arabic. A similar division of tasks is found in the language course 
ʿArabiyyat al-naas 
(Younes 
et al
. 2013), with Levantine Arabic being introduced in 
the form of videoclips and exercises, and Modern Standard Arabic being used for 
the acquisition of reading skills.
Within the range of strictly standard grammars and manuals for Arabic, 
a number of courses may be mentioned: Ziadeh and Winder (1957); Krahl and 
Reuschel (1980, 1981), a comprehensive course, covering not only grammar but 
also stylistics, aiming at the training of interpreters of Arabic, Eastern European 
style, but available now in a revised non-socialist version; Fischer and Jastrow 
(1977), Fischer (1986) and Woidich (1985), intended for traditional departments 
of Arabic in Europe; Abboud and McCarus (1983; first published 1968), an audio-

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240
The Arabic Language
lingual approach with a large number of drills, intended for departments of 
Arabic in the United States.
An older reference grammar of Modern Standard Arabic is Cantarino (1974–5), 
which is based on a predominantly literary corpus. The standard grammar for the 
modern language is Badawi 
et al
. (2004). The syntax of Modern Standard Arabic 
is dealt with in the handbook that is being published by El-Ayoubi 
et al
. (2001, 
2011); two volumes of the scheduled four have appeared thus far; the syntactic 
terminology is somewhat idiosyncratic, but when completed, this will be the most 
complete treatment of Modern Arabic syntax. Smaller surveys of the structure 
of the language are Beeston (1968), Pellat (1985) and Kouloughli (1994); a sketch 
of the modern language is given by Wild (1982) and McCarus (2008: 238–62). A 
comprehensive handbook on all aspects of Modern Standard Arabic is by Holes 
(1995a); although it is not a grammar in the strictest sense of the word, its system
-
atic treatment of the structure of the language with extensive references to the 
existing literature makes this a very useful introduction to Modern Standard 
Arabic.
As regards dictionaries of Modern Standard Arabic: the Arabic–Arabic diction
-
aries, most of which were published in Lebanon, lean heavily on the Arabic lexico
-
graphical tradition. Buṭrus al-Bustānī’s 
Muḥīṭ al-muḥīṭ
, which was compiled in the 
nineteenth century, is still available in modern printings (e.g., Beirut, 1987); under 
the auspices of ALECSO, ʿAlī al-Qāsimī edited 
al-Muʿjam al-ʿarabī al-ʾasāsī
(Beirut: 
Larousse, 1989). Bilingual dictionaries were also published in Lebanon: English–
Arabic (M. Baalbaki 1991); Arabic–English (Rohi Baalbaki 1988); French–Arabic 
(Hajjar 1983); Arabic–French (
Munjid
1990). The number of Western dictionaries of 
Arabic is considerable, the best-known being Wehr’s (1952, 1959) Arabic–German 
dictionary, which was based on a corpus of literary and journalistic texts. Wehr’s 
dictionary was translated into English and expanded by Cowan (1961; approxi
-
mately 28,000 items; the fourth edition of 1979 contains more than 40,000 items). 
The fifth edition of the original Arabic–German dictionary appeared in 1985 in a 
thoroughly revised version, containing approximately 50,000 items. Dictionaries 
with Arabic as target language include: German–Arabic: Schregle (1974; 45,000 
items; also Arabic–German 1981–6); French–Arabic: Reig (1987; also Arabic–
French); English–Arabic: Doniach (1972). The Dutch–Arabic dictionary that was 
published in 2003 by Hoogland 
et al
. deserves special mention because it is one of 
the first attempts to include collocations in the dictionary, that is, fixed combina-
tions of verb–object, noun–adjective, etc. (see Hoogland 1993).

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